How ses5909 started their web page design journey

Summary

I need an uncoded template for a non-profit group. Please use your own work. This needs to be professional and classy, but not cold and corporate. This website is essentially a library of information so it should be inviting.

What inspires you and how do you envision the design for your business?

Desired Color Scheme:
Red, white, and blue

Desired Style:
This needs to be clean and crisp, but not a cold corporate look. It should be inviting!

Accepted File Formats:
Vector/PSD

You can see the current design here:

Right now, the colors are kind of heavy, we need to lighten them up a bit. You will notice the three navigational elements I have drawn a red outline around. Right now that is VERY clunky and we need a more organized look. It is separated into 3 separate places so it is very easy to get lost. I need this condensed into 1 navigational element if possible...

The top-level navigation elements need to be:
About Us
Members
News
Training & Support
Partners (this will combine Ethnic and Relgious Partners from the current layout)
Policies and Issues
Programs & Resources

i would like to see the search box taken out of the sidebar (perhaps put into the header). The calendar may be able to join it (perhaps with a nice icon)

It would be great if everything can be worked a top navigation so they can use that valuable sidebar space for other things. It doesn't have to be that way. We are open to your ideas.

The current color scheme is red, white, and blue. They are open to different variations on those colors. Also, you can see the organization name in the top-left-hand corner of the screenshot. They do not have a logo and do not want a logo so you are open to play around with different fonts here.

If I get something I REALLY like, I have the right to close the contest early.

There are two elements that must be worked into the design.

or
Feel free to change the colors on those to suit the design (i don't have a PSD of that image yet)

and

Updated notes
The page I showed you is an example of how cluttered it can look. I would really like to remove that if possible. Here is a page that really doesn't need a sidebar:

I wanted to show the most complex menu structure so you could design for that. Please don't hesitate to ask any questions!

update 18 may
The name of the org needs to be portrayed without a space between the two words and with the first word being italicized. this is important to the client.

here is an example:

Client Feedback
Header:

A simple top navigation bar, where the logo, tag line and the menu items are together and they all stand out clearly. They have not decided if they will have images or not but if they do, it would be under the logo, tag line, and menu options.

Side Nav:

They prefer a left nav to that of a right nav and prefer the side nav to be skinnier. We see the left nav as a place where there, on the homepage we can have (in order) Latest News at the top, then Calendar, then the AJC logo and donation acknowledgements. On inner pages, we would like the left nav sidebar options to move to the top, the best place to place subheading options that relate to the text on the right

Colors:
Some of the entries are too dark. They prefer the red to be similar to #CC0000 and would like to see the blue similar to #079BFF
The first word in the logo is best in white and the second in red.
White background for the center/body is best, but a light blue page background would be nice

For the main nav, remove the Home and Contact Us buttons. If you can think of a place to put them where they are still visible but out of the way, that would be fine.